The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-06-19
THE p1rcHrnS CuRyrs.


ttncally By Frofesssr 1fehsrd A. frootor.
Fvm Lsngmdas Haoasiae.
Late In September, 1866, certain English
srsss game q # Sass
opsion n he o Sstns e qualities q
iR e. called iailepi.shsa bali that T. one
which dSes not touch The ground a Sss9 ire.
T poor eye WI Who Cannot hit such Che
bas sSrown u sse base BAH game thsy xs Is,
a considerable proportion Of these balls were
missed. Here were the members oftw9 trsi ne
sSo an %f Enass coa s Would
to miss once IN q SCORE OF trials. r,.. .,
When the game yss over the English ,i. eric nd
were Obliged to admit that as lar as they could
Judge the batting seemed very weak; Every
bs full Ssa snd ,sSyws os san
snd shsr friends WAY SnS San bit ts
curves ry; ? y Fctherrii rather thought not; and
s1ss an sEhsR paid s
stooa that Il any one could knock their pitch
t eosst a. hs 81 price, E
could not but maintain Their opinion that even
ns NTH H sss b ss Ss Ought b
Naturally the idea WAS suggested that the
matter ssad % pSt me 70
the Ensiishmen might care 70 WELD the club:
ons N ei
and we'll known alike for staunoh defence and
brilliant batting on many an English field.
W sseppoa wRieh base baii players call
5S ~. XIII lid ssS Sn hs q
practice also at lawn tennis, would enable MIN,
Re fels sure. to slight the ba quite readily and I'd
f 2e stFas The pi pr
smilingly sent in the ball after the customary
steps within the pitchers ground. step. when I,
delivery according to the pitcher's own partiou-
precisely like swift. full pitched ball at crick;
seem simpler than to hit ball SO delivered.
Only nsas ,4Ss aas liz na
i. again. bus this @e WITH sshss
ferent action. Again the, crioketer makes his
stroke, but again he misses the ball: which %
the place Where he expected 70 strike III
bais Yers deiiyered: but again snS again the
cr ns ' and then only when wsaried iii he
Ss and Ssd
bali was sent in did he succeed in striking the
PS ss S only BY mbs s xns1s h s sse
Bali he found he was bound p miss, 60 he tried
aiming little on one side Of It. and by nero
fuke made his first successful stroke.
By this time the cricketer and his friends had
recognized that there was something more IN
y S liz sssss M SSo
standing BY were especially Interested. It was
obvious that the base bali was missed so Per,
ens u thei s9 twsters nom % or leg
the base ball had break. But how the break
could be obtained without any contact with the
more %y s did the matter appear when
the course Of tho ball was watched from 0 be-
When nu 'n 50 Watching the bull. than it went
to ths law " 81 II gravity, until
either up p or down or right or left as Il il had
cushioned at an obtuse but quite recognizable
surface appeared.
AS matter Of fact, every ball which Fother.
gill sent in had cushioned against the air; But
that served as no explanation to the perplexed'
as bso% and 70 Il The light the sit 81 the
ball Il was dificult to undeEstand why IN one 10
another downward. in one, case toward the
Right. in another toward the left. y was easy
to guess that the deflection resulted T ep the
ment Of delivery, but a spin cannot. 1t should
seem. make an aerial cushion against which
e e9ioPet t M3p' om the ground
moment when 1t touches the surface while
swiftly spinning.
Asa matter 9f fact The eurying q the e.. bal At
Of q bail bowied In the usual way at cricket, t
70 rshs s s0 he 1e pSoSe% q
ourying base ball Is By no means simple: Let
first consider what the pShhe5E h " wants s
me- momsnt Of deliver, and then inquire what is
from the pitchers hand at the moment Of de-
there sEe many Xsys. IL which re pitcher nay
shall be square to this IMAGINARY lipe., The
Ss ssp be % sn eRq s
its left side las viewed by the pitcherl, or II
may be made to spin on horizontal axis
Ing either the top or the bottom Of the bali, or
It may be made to turn on an axis lying be-
But 70 ' make The BAH spin on horisontsl axis
eoipciding with the course along which the
Is precisely the kind q spin which the bowler
at cricket gives to the ball as most effective for
to p ths spIns se Girec cM es 'f n ' A''
It is tolerably obvious that while such spin
as is given to a rifle bullet could only make
missile fly more steadily, whether It be bullet
or ball. any other kind Of spin may be expected
to cause the missile to follow more Or less err
an axis Of spin Colnciding with the missiles
axis square to that course must be worst
that 10. must make tho course followed by the
missile as erratic as, on account OF given rate
Of spin communicated to It, It can possibly be.
But It Is by no means quite so easy to recog-
nize how the deviation Of = missile under such
conditions Is brought about. or In what direc-
ton 1t will take place. Nay, 80 unlikely did the
power Of .curvin9 q base balls course seem an
tecedently that many, even Of those who might
be expected to have mastered thoroughly all
problems OF the kind. denied confidently that
any deviation can take place. Only ten or
science in America. seeing II stated In sport
ing paper that Ice yachts will sail faster than
the wind. and that o baseball can be thrown 80
as to curve in the air beyond the ourying due
msnts on scientiiie groSnds; and e ridicple-
50 foolish as to believe either. Yet Doth propo-
sitiops are not only true. but might have been
mathematical reasoning. It can be shown
forty miles an hour with forty mile beam
the wind will still have driving power in